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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; The famed restaurant in the basement of Boscov&rsquo;s Department Store on South Main Street has closed permanently.
				Jim Boscov, chief executive officer of the 51-store chain, confirmed the closing, saying he realizes it will come as a disappointment to many faithful customers.
				&ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; Boscov said the restaurant closing. &ldquo;COVID has really done a terrible disservice to retail in general, but I don&rsquo;t know any area that has been hit harder than the restaurant business.&rdquo;
				Boscov, 65, said the company &ldquo;made a very difficult decision&rdquo; to close the remaining six restaurants in the company.
				&ldquo;We are now deciding how to re-purpose the space,&rdquo; Boscov said. &ldquo;Some stores, we already have plans. But in Wilkes-Barre, we are still working on it.&rdquo;
				&#8226; Here is what is posted on Boscov&rsquo;s Wilkes-Barre Facebook site:
				&ldquo;The effects of COVID-19 have been devastating to the restaurant industry this past year including the restaurants at Boscov&rsquo;s. This has forced us to make the very difficult decision to close our six remaining Boscov&rsquo;s Restaurants.
				&ldquo;Our Reading North, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, and Dover locations are now closed, and our Reading East and Pottsville locations will close for business on January 30.
				&ldquo;We are grateful to our loyal restaurant customers for their many years of support and to our restaurant coworkers. These former restaurant spaces are being renovated to provide an expanded and more convenient shopping experience for our customers. Construction will begin shortly.&rdquo;
				Future plans
				Boscov said curbside pickup is becoming an important part of the business and he said there are other areas that need to be addressed in the downtown store.
				&ldquo;We need better bathrooms there, so that is one possibility,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Other areas of the store need to be expanded. But we are early in the planning process. I want to assure our loyal customers that we are always working hard that we meet the needs of our customers.&rdquo;
				Boscov said early in his career he was in charge of the restaurants throughout the Boscov&rsquo;s chain.
				&ldquo;I remember when we opened in Wilkes-Barre, the restaurant was a vibrant place,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I remember the Sophia Loren Room in the back. There are a lot of great memories there.&rdquo;
				Boscov said the Wilkes-Barre store is &ldquo;doing very well.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;We have done slightly better than what we budgeted for,&rdquo; Boscov said. &ldquo;When we closed for three months, we lost a quarter of a billion dollars in sales. Yes, this will be a lousy year, but we have zero debt and we will come out of this just fine.&rdquo;
				For more than 100 years, Boscov&rsquo;s has adhered to the core values of its founder, Solomon Boscov:
				&#8226; A vast selection of quality merchandise including your favorite brands.
				&#8226; Incredible pricing.
				&#8226; Knowledgeable and friendly coworkers providing the kind of customer service that&rsquo;s hard to find anymore.
				&#8226; Ongoing community partnerships.
				Headquartered in Reading, Boscov&rsquo;s has stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

End of an era: Boscov’s restaurant has closed permanently